Oil pumping apparatus



' Sept. 19, 1939. B. oLssoN' 011. PUMPING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 18, 1955NVENTOR" 143 11 TTORNEK- Patented Sept. 19, 1939 i UNITED SIA'I'E-SPATENT OFFICE OIL PUMPING APPARATUS Bengt Olsson, New York, N.v Y.,assignor to W. Hastings Swenarton, Montclair, N. J.

Application October 18, 1935, Serial No. 45,614

7 Claims. (Cl. 1035) My invention relates to a method and appaducingnipple and the other end is screwed into ratus for the pumping of heavyoils and sludges. the suction end of the steam jet pump 6, which Thesesludges are usually extremely viscous and discharges into the relieftrap 8 through the stable water emulsions and resist all attempts shortnipple 1, with which the relief trap is pro- 5 of pumping by ordinarypumping methods. vided. The trap also has a connection 9, through Myinvention especially relates to pumping such which the material istransferred into the bilge sludges that accumulate in the double bottomsof line I0. oil burning vessels. The active portion of the bilge line Itis pref- It is to be noted that the invention provides erably out offfrom the rest of the line by means 10 for a cold suction intake hose,which may be Of a valve H. From the bilge line H], the ballast mconveniently handled and led into the different p mp sucks the materiald d s a es it pockets of the honey combed, double bottom through aconventional pipe line l3 into a constructure of the vessel. Also as airis continuousnient tora p either inside Outside ly withdrawn from thedifferent portions of the the vessel.

double bottom, the highly explosive gases which The trap 8 is alsoprovided with a valve-con- 1:5; are generated therein by the oilresidues are most olled ne H t ou W ch t e maj p rt O effectivelyremoved during the pumping, and the the eam e cap s hus pr v n i nxcessive tank is left in a gas free condition when the back pressure onthe steam jet pump 8, which pumping is finished, and all danger ofexplosion feature is essential as o herwise pumping will is removed whenwelding, riveting or other hot se en ly. T steam necessary f r h D- 20Work repairs are afterwards undertaken. eration of the jet pump isfurnished through the I have found that air sucked into the suction highp u steam line 15 which is pp line by a moderate vacuum created by asteam with a customary valve [6.

jet pump placed at the discharge end of intake e ta e pp 5 s preferablyp d d with suction line, will cause the material to travel Crossbars ISin order to preven rags, s cks, etc.

through the suction line in form of a wave or from entering thetransmission line and interrupt solid slug which seals the suction lineduring its t e pu p travel therethrough. The operation preferred incarrying out my As my invention relates to a certain grouping i provedpumping method in the above described together of known elements, and asI by this novel p e ent s as follows: 30 combination attain new anduseful results, I e steam Valve is is p ed and the ballast thereforealso claim as a method the several copump I2 s started The h gh pressuresteam, operating steps required for-performing my imwhich escapes in thedirection of flow through proved pumping operation. the nozzle of thejet pump will expand and as In the drawing the expansion takes place aconsiderable amount 5 Figure 1 is a diagrammatic, fragmentary, lonof thesteam will condense and a vacuum forms gitudinal section of an oilburning vessel showing in the steam jet which travels at a very high veapreferred form of apparatus removing viscous locity. Into thistravelling vacuum air will be sludge from the d b1 bottom thereof and disucked in and an air stream becomes established charging it through aconvenient pipe line, all through the suction hose 4. 40 in accordancewith my invention; The intake nipple 5 is then dipped into the visi 2and 3 are respectively a d t i fragcous material 2, care being takenthat the intake mentary plan view and elevation of such eppas tCompletely ubmerged so that atmospheric m and air may freely enter thesuction line together Fig. 4 is a fragmentary elevation of a modifiwiththe material, which then, upon entrance in 45 ti the line forms a slugsealing the line. This slug In the drawing where like referencecharacters is now pulled by the low vacuum, about 12 inches designatecorresponding parts; I denotes the of mercury, which will have beenestablished in p from which the viscous sludge 2 in the comthe line 4 bythe action of the steam jet as afore- 5 partments of the double bottom 3is removed. said, and such slug will be discharged through The suctionline 4, preferably a 4 inch flexible the terminal orifice of the nippleinto the trap 8 bronze hose is led into any desired pocket of the and ina direction substantially tangential to the double bottom through theconventional manyl drical Wa O said pt is to be 0 ed holes andlightening openings. that when the slug passes into and through the Atthe end of the hose 4 is attached the resteam jet of the pump it isblown into fragments 55 forming a rapidly moving spray which contactswith the trap wall and in violently sweeping along the side walls of thetrap become separated or de-emulsified into water and oil which readilysettle in the trap as they come to rest therein.

From the relief trap the major portion of the steam and air introducedinto the trap escapes through the relief line H and an excessive backpressure is thus prevented in the trap 8. I have found that when thevalve I1 is sothrottled down, with respect to the capacity of trap 8 andthe capacity and pumping rate of pump l2, that about a pressure of twoto three pounds per square inch exists in the trap, a low andsubstantially continuous vacuum of about 12 inches as aforesaid can bemaintained in the suction line 4 during the passage of the sludge fromthe nozzle to the steam jet and this vacuum is only broken during theshort interval of the passage of the sludge through the jet.

From the steam relief trap 8 where the discharged slug spray iscollected, the ballast pump [2 sucks the material through the connection9 and bilge line l0 and the pump suction is assisted by the trappressure so that proper priming of the ballast pump is at all timesmaintained. Inasmuch as the viscous emulsion has been effectively brokendown and only a mechanical mixture of hot air and water collects in thetrap, the draining of the trap does not prevent any problem and theballast pump which usually is of the reciprocating type is able todeliver the pumped material to a considerable distance and elevation.

In this connection it is to be noted that any force pump can be used forthe trap discharge; a centrifugal pump or even a steam jet pump providedwith a check valve at its intake end will satisfactorily serve for thispurpose.

The rapidly intermittent slug formation during the pumping operation isof the utmost importance insofar as the efliciency of the operation isconcerned as thereby much greater quantities of sludge, some 200% to400% can be pumped in a "given time interval than is possible by amethod wherein the slug is emulsified with air and broken up in fineparticles in air suspension and in which condition they are transportedthrough the discharge line to an overside delivery receptacle, such as aslop barge as commonly employed for this purpose.

It is of the utmost importance that the point of introduction of thesteam into the line 4 be remote from the nozzle 5 and it must be inclose proximity to the steam relief trap 8, preferably -a couple of feettherefrom, as otherwise were the steam connection at the nozzle, or saywithin a foot or two therefrom, it would not be possible to introduceair at the nozzle and consequently the beneficial gas-freeing by suchair suction into the line during pumping operation would not berealized. Furthermore, by connecting the steam jet pump into the line 4in close proximity to the trap,,the nozzle 5 and hose 4 can beconveniently introduced into any double bottom pocket of any size,however small, through the lightening holes of the bottom frames, andwhen so introduced can be conveniently manipulated by the operator dueto the small size of the intake nozzle member which can be employed andespecially also because the steam being introduced remote from thenozzle does not heat up the same to render the handling objectionable.

Another very essential and important feature of my invention resides inthe fact that the operators are not subjected to any possibility ofbeing scalded by a back-firing through the nozzle 5 of the steamintroduced into the line, since such steam, due to the unobstructedpassage afforded into the trap 8, will always flow forwardly into thetrap from which it can freely escape through the vent pipe i4. Also asthe slender and relatively delicate steam hose I5 is always outside thedouble bottom wherein the operators are stationed, they are notsubjected to any risk of being scalded or fatally injured should suchsteam hose burst.

All of these advantages are realized without the employment of any checkvalve in line 4 and which check valve is objectionable because it tendsto restrict the free flow of the slug therethrough and also promotes thetendency for such line to become clogged by sticks or other foreignmatter.

While this invention has been described with special reference to theremoval of sludge from the double bottom of ships for which purpose itis admirably adapted for the reasons hereinbefore stated, this inventionis likewise unusually applicable for the removal of sludge from thestorage tanks, especially those on oil tank-farms and refineries wherevoluminous deposits of rust scale mixed with oil sludge frequentlyoccur. Such scale I have found is completely pulverized by the highvelocity steam jet coupled with the aforesaid violent de-emulsifyingaction to which it is subjected in the trap.

It is to be noted that the material discharged through the high pressuresteam jet is heated to near the atmospheric boiling temperature of wateror say 200 F. Now, therefore, the material being a mechanical mixture ofoil and water, the pump suction, unassisted, could not pull it into theforce pump inasmuch as the highly heated water turns into steam themoment its temperapressure or so-called positive pressure in the relieftrap, because even a slight pressure will be sufficient to prevent anyboiling i. e. considerable steam generating in the trap.

As a steam jet pump will readily create the low vacuum necessary for theslug transmission through the suction line when discharging against alow pressure and at the same time the desideratum of a pressure deliveryto the pump of the heated material is accomplished, the consequentsuccessful handling by a force pump, either of the mechanical or steamjet type, of aforesaid viscous material is assured.

In this connection it is also to be seen that the connection 9 is sopositioned in the trap 8, that the full centrifugal force of thedeflected high velocity spray will assist delivery to the force pump.

I have described my preferred apparatus as having a single suctionintake hose to the trap, but it is readily seen that two or even moreseparate suction lines may be connected to a relatively small trap asthe pumping rate of the force pump determines the number of intake hosesemployed.

Referring to the drawing, it is to be noted that the vent line H isprovided with a control valve H, the pressure of which eliminates aclose proportioning of the vent line.

In the modification shown in Fig. 4, the dis charge from the trap 8comprises a connection All 20, equipped with a swing check-valve 21, toa steam jet pump 22, which latter discharges the pumped material throughthe discharge line 24. The jet pump 22 is provided with the highpressure steam inlet 23 through which the operating steam enters the jetpump. Such a construction functions generally similar to that shown inFig. 1 wherein a reciprocating pump is employed and makes it possiblefor a steam jet pump to handle the hot pumped material from trap 8inasmuch as the steam vent l4 prevents an excessive amount of steam toenter the discharge line 23, while the slight pressure maintained intrap 8-insures the priming of the steam jet pump at all times during theperiod of discharge of the pumped material from the trap 8.

I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the specificdetails of construction as it is manifest that variations andmodifications may be made in the adoption of the device to variousconditions without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to obtain byUnited States Letters Patent is:

1. The method of pumping viscous material which comprises introducing ahigh pressure steam jet into a transmission line, effecting the suckinginto the steam jet of the material to be pumped, blowing said materialinto fragments by the force of said jet, separating the steam from thepumped material, allowing steam to escape from the transmission line ata point close to the steam jet, restricting such steam escape so as toretain low pressure steam in the transmission line to thereby assist indelivering the pumped material to a force pump and to substantiallyprime the pump during the period of said delivery.

2. In a pumping apparatus for viscous material, a suction transmissionline, a steam jet at the discharge end thereof, a chamber incommunication with said transmission line and adapted to contain steamand pumped material, a vent line from said chamber, means for drainingthe chamber and a control valve in the aforesaid vent line.

3. In a pumping apparatus for viscous material, a suction transmissionline, a steam jet at the discharge end thereof, a chamber incommunication with said transmission line and adapted to contain steamand pumped material, means for draining the chamber and means forrestricting the steam, escape therefrom and to maintain a superatmospheric pressure in said chamber.

4. The method of pumping viscous material which comprises introducing ahigh pressure steam jet into a transmission line, effecting the suckinginto the steam jet of such material to be pumped, blowing said materialinto a high velocity spray by the force of said jet, separating thesteam from the pumped material and then, while permitting the separatedsteam to escape from the transmission line, effecting the delivery ofthe pumped material to a force discharge-pump while utilizing themomentum of the high velocity spray to substantially assist in thepriming of the pump during the period of said delivery.

5. A pumping system for removing viscous oily material together with theair and gases from a double bottom tank of a ship and over the sidethereof, comp-rising in combination a substantially prone suction hoseadapted to be led into the double bottom tank from the tank top, a steamjet pump connected thereto, a separator pressure trap, a connection fromthe jet pump to said trap, a vent line from said trap adapted to beprojected over the ships side, a force pump connected to said trap and adischarge line over the ships side from said pump.

6. The method of pumping viscous material through a transmission system,which comprises positioning an intake line in a substantially proneposition, introducing a high velocity steam jet, projecting in thedirection of the desired flow of such material through the system, intosaid intake line at a point remote from the suction end thereof so as tocreate a partial vacuum in said line, admitting viscous material to 'bepumped into the suction end of said line together with sufficient air toimpart a rapid movement to said material as it enters the steam jet,blowing the pumped material into a high velocity. spray by the combinedaction of said jet and said air, separating the air and steam from thepumped viscous material and causing the discharge of the separated airand steam from the system While simultaneously forcing the pumpedmaterial separately out of said system.

7. The method of pumping viscous material through a transmission system,which comprises introducing a suction line into contact with thematerial to be pumped, projecting a high velocity steam jet into saidline in the direction of the desired flow of such material through thesystem and at a point remote from the suction end of said line so as tocreate a partial vacuum therein, sucking viscous material to be pumped,together with sufficient air to impart rapid movement to said material,into the suction end of said line, blowing the pumped material sointroduced into the line into a high velocity spray composed of viscousmaterial, steam and air, delivering such high velocity spray into aseparation chamber, separating the viscous material of said spray fromthe associated steam and air, while simultaneously maintaining in suchchamber a super-atmospheric pressure of several pounds per square inchto thereby facilitate the discharge of the pumped material from saidchamber and separately removing the pumped material from said chamber.

' BENGT OLSSON.

